Young talents from the mainland and Hong Kong gather with new works in Beijing for the latest edition of Spring Equinox. Chen Nan reports.

Dance festival Spring Equinox, which aims to showcase young Chinese choreographers, will be held in Beijing from March 18 to April 2.

At the annual event this year, 11 original contemporary dance works by more than 10 young Chinese will be staged every weekend. The program that is hosted by Beijing Dance/LDTX began in 2006 after the dance troupe, among the country's first such independent groups, was founded by Willy Tsao. The troupe also tours globally.

The event gathers dancers and choreographers from the country, and organizes workshops on modern dance.

"Young choreographers surprise me with their works every year. We don't set rules on their choreography. They can make the work five minutes long or take it to 30 minutes, but all they need to do is fully display their emotions and imagination," says Tsao, who is also the troupe's artistic director.

He formed his first dance ensemble in Hong Kong in 1979 and later moved to southern China's Guangdong province and Beijing.

"One of the most exciting parts about contemporary dance is the choreography. The individuality of the choreographer makes each work different," Tsao says.

While Tsao is among the pioneers of modern dance in China, the country has yet to see the development of this art form.

Dancer-choreographer Gong Xingxing, 27, will stage her work Secular Life and Beyond at Spring Equinox 2016.

Having participated in the festival twice after joining Beijing Dance/LDTX in August 2013, Gong has interpreted the idea of "keeping things fresh" in her piece.

"From food to flowers and us, everything seems to decay. How can we keep it fresh? That's what I am talking about in this dance work," says Gong.

Born in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China, Gong graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy with a degree in contemporary choreography.

She has gotten together seven male and six female dancers onstage this time, enabling her work to be more layered as compared with her earlier works that largely used single dancers. Gong chose extracts of cello concertos as the background music, which adds both sorrowful and peaceful moods to her dance.

"Like many Chinese dancers, I started with learning traditional Chinese folk dance, which relies on learning old moves instead of creating new ones. I felt nothing inside when I danced until I regained my passion through contemporary dance," says Gong.

"Each of my works is based on my life and expresses my emotions. I hope the audiences feel as excited as I did when I watched the performance."

Contemporary dance is usually considered obscure and catering to a minority taste, she says.

"But I believe the audiences should change such impressions. You just watch the show and have your own answers."

Other than works by young choreographers from the Chinese mainland, this year's festival will show four new works by Hong Kong-based choreographers, including Dance for No Reason by Cyrus Hui, Elaine Kwok and Chloe Wong, reflecting changes in the choreographers' lives after they turned 30; Galaxy Dreamer by Max Lee, inspired by the homeless in Hong Kong; and Odds by Ivanhoe Lam that deals with gender differences and relationships between men and women.

The four works will tour Hong Kong and Guangzhou after the festival.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/11/2016 page20)